At our LEADERS SUMMIT last March industry veteran and Chairman of Ingenia, Jim Hazel, said “The future of retirement living belongs to the Not For Profits – they have the balance sheets, they have the brands, they have the care services and they have the executives to dominate in five years from now’.
Proving his point in two weeks’ time (1 July) Sydney’s Anglican Retirement Villages and Anglicare will merge to create a ‘formidable’ competitor in the retirement village and aged care markets of Sydney and the Illawarra.
To be called Anglican Community Services, the merged organisation will feature approximately 3,800 staff (F/T and P/T) and 2,900 volunteers. It will provide aged care services to 6,600 people living in the community and operate 20 Day Centres, 22 Retirement Villages, 22 Residential Aged Care Homes, 9 Community Service Centres and 1 overnight Respite Centre – all within Sydney and the Illawarra region.
They jointly serve 50,000 customers.
The merger is very strategic. In a joint video (click HERE) the two CEOs, Rob Freeman at ARV and Grant Millard at Anglicare, explain that they are building scale to respond and lead the new, competitive marketplace. Both know what they are doing.
Rob Freeman’s career includes Managing Partner of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Exec. GM of OneSteel and Managing Director of Capral, the country’s largest supplier of aluminum products and systems.
Grant Millard has been a barrister, a Partner at Arthur Andersen and Director of Tax at Coca-Cola here and the UK.
The two executives worked together to conceive and deliver the merger. It was signed off just 45 days ago by the Synod of the Anglican Diocese and legally comes into effect 1 July – 60 days later.
They join Not For Profit care operator Uniting, with 69 villages plus over 200 locations, leading the delivery of care services in NSW.
By comparison Aveo, Stockland and lendlease have exactly 19 villages each across NSW. Only Aveo is making a significant commitment to in-house aged care services.
